MKs demand: Criminal investigation against Bennett over renovation of Ra'anana home

April 13, 2022   

Opposition MKs - Amir Ohana, Moshe Arbel, Galit Distel, Michael Malchieli, Yitzhak Pindros, Yoav Kish, Shlomo Kerei and Simcha Rotman - appealed this evening (Wednesday) to the Legal Advisor to the Prime Minister Gali Baharav Mayara, and to the head of the Investigations and Intelligence Division, Chief Superintendent Yigal Ben Shalom, demanding that a criminal investigation be opened against Naftali Bennett, after they claimed that he acted illegally when he turned his private home in Ra'anana into the prime minister's residence. Are you over the age of 60? This is the teaching for you from Rabbi Kanievsky, zt”l The letter, sent through attorney Michael Dvorin, states: "Bennett acted illegally and turned his private home into the official residence of the prime minister, while in this way he manages (alone or with partners) to cause tens of millions of shekels of public money to be invested in his private home, thereby improving his private property." The Knesset members further claim in their letter: "This is a violation of the Basic Law of the Government and that adapting Bennett's home to the needs of the prime minister's residence, including the construction of facilities for security arrangements, involved fraudulently spending state funds for the purpose of renovating the home and improving it as a private property of the Bennett family, to the extent of tens of millions of shekels of public money.".

1/2 A little peek into the prestigious neighborhood in Ra'anana with Bennett's neighbor. pic.twitter.com/WR3RqOOXXM

— shlomit cohen (@c_shlomit) April 13, 2022

Regarding the state's response to Bennett's operation from Ra'anana following the renovation of the official residence in Jerusalem, due to security requirements, it was written: "There is no truth in this response, and this is because there is no, and cannot be, a directive that gives the Attorney General the authority to overturn a decision of the Knesset Finance Committee. "As a result, the decision to invest tens of millions of shekels in Mr. Bennett's private home, and to declare it a temporary official residence, contradicts the express language of Basic Law: The Government, as well as the decision of the Finance Committee derived from it, which was mentioned above." It was further stated that "since these are apparently serious criminal offenses, you are requested to investigate immediately before the perpetrators are given time to hide the evidence or disrupt it. In addition, you are requested to immediately order a halt to the celebration of the waste of public funds described above.".